by Patrick Malone
Pink Floyd sang, "Is there anybody out there?"
Writers are a surly lot. They often write,
as Robert Anton Wilson observed to a largely invisible and quite possibly
non-existent audience. But, write they must. Most writers I've spoken to
tell me that in spite of the lack of a possible audience, they write as if
they are compelled by some inner voice.
Readers, however, are worse. Being more of
an observer rather than an participant I include myself in this group as
well. I would guess that less that one tenth of one percent of readers ever
write or e-mail their favorite authors to tell them that they enjoyed what
they had come up with. And given the ambivalence of most readers towards
any sort of constructive feedback, it's difficult not to consider the analogy
of a parasitic relationship.
It's even more concerning being the editor
of this monster we've created wondering if anybody is actually reading what
we've sweated and strained to put together. We can out webcounters on the
pages to see what's being accessed, but that doesn't count the ideas that
are being digested or the thoughts being considered. Is what we write being
considered? Are we reaching anybody? Is our audience invisible? Non-existent?
The question remains.
Is there anybody out there?
We're happy to blast two announcements this
month. Since David Bloomberg has now retired from this rag, Troy Smith (Chef
Troy) has taken over the reins as Senior Editor. Cristi Lamb (Persephone)
has joined the staff and will be assisting him in the copy editing duties.
She will also be in charge of party favors.
Also, with this issue, we are beginning to
serialize Aha's story "Vegas Flyer." We present the prologue this month and
will begin the story proper with the next issue. Hopefully, we'll be around
long enough to get to the end of it.